The towering elm trees and gentle meadows of Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park have for generations formed an inspiring backdrop to the city’s collective memory.

The Qualico Family Centre connects to the temporality of this landscape, evolving, growing and decaying in harmony with the natural rhythms of its surroundings.

With time, materials will allow the architecture to mature, growing into its site. The zinc fascia will patina to a soft grey, and a permanent record of local weather patterns will be imprinted distinctly on facades clad with weathering steel. Wood soffits of locally-salvaged elm will weather & a vegetated roof, planted with local grasses, will grow to become a raised piece of the forest floor.

As seasons pass, the reflected colors of the forest transform the building and redefine the experience of interior space. The angular forms channel harsh winter winds in specific ways, shaping snow into extensions of the structure.

Oklahoma firm Kinslow, Keith & Todd has presented its vision to build a skyscraper shaped like a tornado on top of a Tulsa parking garage.

The towering structure, proposed within the region known as Tornado Alley, is designed to include a museum dedicated to weather, a storm research centre, a revolving rooftop bar and restaurant, and a grassy roof.

Lighting would also be added so that the whole building would appear to be slowly spinning to passing drivers.

Kinslow, Keith & Todd came up with the design after being asked by Tulsa People magazine for explore ways to rejuvenate the downtown area of the US city.

This residential property in the Netherlands has been designed to comply with strict regulations that limit the height of the single storey structure. Completed by Koen Olthuis of Dutch architecture practice waterstudio.nl, the property utilizes additional floor space at a subterranean level, providing extra surface within the limited dimensions of the building envelope.

Images have been unveiled of BIG and Heatherwick Studio’s design for Google’s Mountain View headquarters. The plan, submitted to city council today, proposes to redevelop and expand the company’s home office with a series of lightweight canopy-like structures organized within a flexible landscape of bicycle paths and commercial opportunities for local companies.

“The idea is simple. Instead of constructing immoveable concrete buildings, we’ll create lightweight block-like structures which can be moved around easily as we invest in new product areas… Large translucent canopies will cover each site, controlling the climate inside yet letting in light and air. With trees, landscaping, cafes, and bike paths weaving through these structures, we aim to blur the distinction between our buildings and nature.”

Inspired by the form of a snake, Architects Rebelo de Andrade Studio has designed two Tree Snake Houses where each structure glides sinuously amongst the trees in Portugal’s Pedras Salgadas Park.

Taking their inspiration from the long and tapered proportions of a snake, Lisbon-based architects Luís Rebelo de Andrade & Tiago Rebelo de Andrade of Rebelo de Andrade Studio, have designed two concurrent Tree Snake Houses. Rather than build a treehouse in the branches of a tree, the distinctive snake-like houses, with their slate and wood facades, appear to glide sinuously amongst the trees. The structures become elevated and are raised on stilts as the ground dips downwards. Enjoying a close physical association with the one-hundred year old Pedras Salgadas Park, their aspect is one that is congruous with the park’s natural surroundings. Close attention was paid to making sure that they neither dominated nor vied for attention (despite their eye-catching appearance)...

This wedding chapel stands in a garden of a resort hotel, “Bella Vista Sakaigahama,” in Onomichi, Hiroshima. The site is midway on a hill enjoying a panoramic view of the Inland Sea of Japan. By entwining two spiral stairways, we realized a free-standing building of unprecedented composition and architecturally embodied the act of marriage in a pure form. A single spiral stairway would be unsteady in a horizontal direction and is prone to vibration in a vertical direction, hence, very unstable.

The building’s exterior is finished in upright wood panels, painted white so as to deepen in beauty as time passes, and titanium zinc alloy, a material resistant to damage from the sea breeze and pliable enough to be applied to curvature. Employing the zinc alloy on the coping, walls, ceiling, and window sashes enabled a simple design unified by means of a single material.

The project developed by Chartier Dalix involves two structures: a school with eighteen classrooms and a gymnasium which will be open to local residents. The two structures are united in a single volume, bounded by a same skin: the mineral wall, that represents a clear and definite gesture for the ZAC. This building is the “green heart” of the island. The school thus serves as a unifying element in a landscape where which flora and fauna play a vital part in guiding re-development for the rest of the area.

This project is a “landscape as living space“ rather than a simple building. There are two distinct parts to the building: a mineral section – the facades – and a section made of plants – the roof. This envelope wraps itself around the school, a general volume with smooth contours and supple lines, revealing fluid interior spaces and elastic exterior ones, avoiding ruptures between volumes. The highly compact building opens onto the neighbourhood, offering a multitude of perspectives.

Good design should consider the context within which the building is set. Great to see green space being added to a dense urban environment bringing benefits to the children at the school, wildlife and providing a little urban cooling and SUDs.

A Norwegian eco home incorporates a heated pool and a sauna, but still produces three times more electricity than it uses.

Researchers designed the house with a solar-powered roof in collaboration with architects firm Snøhetta. Heat exchangers use excess energy to heat the outside swimming pool and the house even has its own sauna.Insulation is so good that each floor has just one radiator, and each room has sensors to ensure that light and heat is directed efficiently. It produces 23,200kWh of energy a year but requires just 7,272kW to run.It may look like a Portacabin that has been involved in a nasty accident, but this slanting roofed building is actually the ultimate ecohome...

Moveable timber fins cover the top five storeys of this university technology centre by French architects Badia Berger to modulate light and shade inside.

The timber fins that cover the exterior can rotate to alter shade and light inside, and are made from heat-treated pine.The thermo-treatment improves the timber's durability and the process requires no chemicals – only heat, steam and oil," said the architects.

The new Linares’ university district, designed by Canvas Arquitectos, emerged as a unique opportunity to define an urban structure that reinforces urban identity and creates a relationship that integrates the university uses with those of industrial research.

The new campus is sensitive to the landscape and topography as well as the mining and industrial condition defining since its founding in Linares. This sense of descent and discovery accused throughout the intervention.

Each building specifically addresses use and identity; courtyards articulate different scales and establish relationships with the landscape andl the surrounding geography. In addition to courtyards, a rooftop garden resolves climatic conditions.

Moshe Safdie is famous for his iconic Montreal housing complex Habitat ’67, and he is still creating innovative large-scale urban projects around the world. The latest project his firm, Safdie Architects, has debuted is the design for development at Singapore's Changi Airport. The scheme aims to create a public gathering space with gardens, retail stores, hotel, restaurants, and entertainment that will lure travelers, airport employees, and local residents.

The glass dome will encompass a space of 134,000 square meters and houses a 130-foot-high waterfall. The dome's curved shape, recalling the tradition of glass conservatories, provides inherent structural strength to the glass and steel structure. Tree-like structural columns in a ring support the dome while a suspended roof covers the adjacent atrium space.

The space also showcases natural elements: walking trails travel through an indoor topography of trees, palms, and ferns called "Forest Valley".The different elements — dining, accommodations, and retail — are spread throughout the structure so as to give each of them impressive views of the natural features.

The 1000-square-foot floating pod-shaped home measures 12 meters in diameter and 4 meters tall. Its curved body is constructed from recycled glued laminated timber and a recycled aluminum hull. The rounded wooden roof is topped by a 60-square-meter photovoltaic array capable of generating 4 kWp. Four skylights flank both sides of the photovoltaic array. Large windows and balconies wrap around the unit to allow users to enjoy views of the water.

International expositions have long pushed boundaries in design and engineering, and will be the case with the 2015 Expo Milano in May and 147 countries worldwide will share culture through construction in the form of innovative pavilions and installations. Representatives from the U.S. Pavilion—titled American Food 2.0 and aims to discuss the global food supply chain—recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at one of the architectural features: a smart-glass roof canopy.

The application seeks to align with the expo’s broader theme—“Feed the Planet, Energy for Life”—by functioning as a digital interface that encourages visitor interaction. The canopy comprises 312 glass panels, each measuring 3.3 feet by 9.8 feet, and totals roughly 10,000 square feet in area. The nonprofit representing the pavilion, Friends of the U.S. Pavilion Milano 2015, says that this application will be the largest smart-glass roof structure to date, with the panels planned to transition in seconds from opaque to transparent states in response to environmental conditions as well as prompts from visitors via a touchscreen.

Belatchew Architects have won an architectural competition for a new building in Stockholm, Sweden. The HagaTwist building will serve as a meeting place for those who live in, work in, and visit the area, and will accommodate a restaurant and a rooftop terrace.

The name- the HagaTwist- alludes to its twisted shape, but also to the program, that combines work with pleasure, the individual with the collective. The HagaTwist also refers to the DNA helix, since the area has a life science theme.

The lightweight structure is in wood, turning smoothly from one floor to the other, through a wide and inviting multi-functional staircase connecting the main floor with the upper floor and roof terrace in a seamless way.

Why not take the same theories and technologies used to grow organic produce and raise animals and apply them to build more compact, more sustainable zoos? Proposed by Mexico City-based BuBa Arquitectos, the Vertical Zoo is a balanced and sustainable space where people and animals can coexist in harmony. Wrapped in lush vegetation, the star-shaped building makes use of green building strategies to reduce heat gain, encourage natural ventilation and soak up rainwater. Totally self-sufficient, the tower's aim is to be a sustainable refuge for all animal kingdom species.

Japanese firm Kengo Kuma + Associates has unveiled plans to replace an aging Tokyo medical centre with a louvre-clad hospital built around a landscaped garden.

The building will be organised around various green spaces and terraces. Proposal images show waiting rooms fronted by floor-to-ceiling glazing, allowing them to open out to a central courtyard featuring several trees.

These cedar-clad dwellings for music residents in Marlboro, Vt., take an iconic house form and update it with minimal detailing and a palette of local materials.

The cottages play on the 400-year-old Cape Cod typology, which features low sidewalls (a mere 7 feet tall) and steeply raked roofs. “We decided to use those classic proportions,” Soranno says, “but put a contemporary spin on the interiors and detailing.”

A simple palette of local materials—stained cedar cladding, white pine interior walls and ceilings, and slate floors—is rendered in natural finishes and with an almost compulsive lack of detail. Window and door casings—in fact, all trim—are verboten. And while the presences of chimneys is a nod to the vernacular, they don’t connect to fireplaces—instead, they conceal plumbing vents and boiler stacks.

Using a custom-designed structure, LEAPfactory has constructed a new building for a ski and snowboard school beside the highest mountain in the Alps.

Situated in the shadow of Mont Blanc, on the south-east side of the France-Italy border, the small hut provides a new reception and lounge for the Courmayeur Ski and Snowboard School.

"The new structure is made with innovative, highly performing and durable materials: it does not contain concrete nor permanent parts, and it is completely reversible, replaceable and recyclable," said the team.

'Prefabricated components, solar power, airtight construction and a small footprint at this home, designed and built by a team of students at New Zealand’s Victoria University, earned third place in 2011 in the U.S. Solar Decathlon.

Now relocated to a picturesque beach at Hawkes Bay, its ecocredentials are quite possibly the greenest in New Zealand.'

The City Hall, also known as the Crystal (Kristallen), stands as an iconic frame with a profound social impact and an ambitious green profile, using only a fraction of the energy normally consumed by this type of building. The first step of The City Hall was completed in 2014 and hosts 13.500m2 of Citizen Service Centre. When fully completed, the building will have 25.000m2 of offices, conference facilities, a public ground floor and a green rooftop terrace that overlooks the city of Lund and its surroundings all the way to Denmark.

“The Ehrlich Retreat + consists of a new guest house, pool, and shade structure that combine with the original house (previously designed by JFAK) to create a family compound. The new structure is contextually related to the original house, borrowing many of its architectural elements, yet has its own identity.

"The LEED Platinum project is also a model of “integrated sustainability,” in which its green strategies are seamlessly integrated into a unique sculptural aesthetic: the structure’s broad frame embraces and gives presence to the new yard, while shading the house’s southern orientation; the triangular cut-out over the office creates a dramatic form, but also introduces generous amounts of ambient northern light; the steel and wood trellis provides welcoming shade for the yard, and at the same time hosts a 2.4kW photovoltaic array that powers the house and pool.

The overall result is a responsible, light-filled, and joyful environment.”

Solar panels provide all the energy needed to power this brick dormitory designed by Louise Braverman to house medical staff at a rural village in Burundi.

The Village Health Works Staff Housing accommodates an 18-bed dormitory for the healthcare workers in the 16-hectare village of Kigutu. It was designed by New York-based Louise Braverman as part of a wider masterplan for the area.

Behnisch Architekten has big, green aspirations for its latest project, the EpiCenter, fittingly located in Boston’s Innovation District, the burgeoning neighborhood designed for such far-reaching goals. The firm just unveiled plans for a new expanded headquarters for the non-profit, Artists for Humanity (AFH), an organization dedicated to helping underserved youth through paid employment opportunities in the arts.

According to Behnisch, the addition will make the existing LEED Platinum certified building—the city’s first—designed by local firm Arrrowstreet, even greener, with the hope of becoming the largest energy positive commercial building on the East Coast. The building already was an AIA COTE Top Ten winner.

biodSafdie Architects revealed plans for an all-glass, spherical “air hub” that will be built at the center of the Singapore’s Changi Airport, the world’s sixth busiest airport. The biodome was presented as a “new paradigm” for international airports.

“This project redefines and reinvents what airports are all about,” said architect Moshe Safdie. “Our goal was to bring together the duality of a vibrant marketplace and a great urban park side-by-side in a singular and immersive experience. The component of the traditional mall is combined with the experience of nature, culture, education, and recreation, aiming to provide an uplifting experience. By drawing both visitors and local residents alike, we aim to create a place where the people of Singapore interact with the people of the world.”

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